NBPA To Hold Top 50 Basketball Camp in July for SIAC and SWAC Players

By ADD SEYMOUR JR.

The 50 of the best ballers from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Southwestern Athletic Conference will participate in a full-range basketball camp run by some of the NBA's present and former stars.

The National Basketball Players Association has announced an agreement with the SIAC and the SWAC to hold a basketball camp July 20-23 at Morehouse College's Forbes Arena in Atlanta for 25 players from each of the conferences made up primarily of historically black colleges and universities.

The NBPA is the union that represents the NBA's players.

The camp is modeled after the Top 100 Camp which plays host to the nation's top high school basketball players, but also provides mentoring for education, leadership, life skills, character and skills development. So think the same thing, but for the top SIAC and SWAC players.

"Our members are very excited to be able to share their professional knowledge and life experiences with today's student-athlete," said NBPA Executive Director Michele Roberts.  "This relationship with the HBCUs demonstrates the NBPA's capacity to play a role in enlightening the young people of today as they seek to shape their future, on and off the court."

The camp also gives current and former NBA players looking towards a coaching career an opportunity to connect with administrators and officials at HBCUs where many often get their first shot at coaching careers.

"Historically black colleges and universities often provide crucial "first chance" opportunities to professional athletes seeking coaching and administrator opportunities in intercollegiate athletics," said SIAC Commissioner Greg Moore.  "This initiative seeks to cultivate, institutionalize and ultimately broaden critically important talent pipelines, while also imparting invaluable skill instruction and mentoring to our student-athletes."

"The Southwestern Athletic Conference is honored to work with the leadership and members of the NBPA, as well as the SIAC, to bring this incredible opportunity to our stakeholders," added SWAC Commissioner Duer Sharp.  "The most fulfilling piece to this is an opportunity for these future leaders to develop their academic and character compass as they embark on their future on and off the court."